[Bartonella henselae: Serological evidence in pediatric patients with clinical suspicion of cat scratch disease]

Abstract

Cat scratch disease (CSD) is caused by Bartonella henselae, which mainly affects children. The cat is the reservoir. The laboratory diagnosis is based on the detection of antibodies by the Indirect Immunofluorescence (IFI) assay. The objective of this study was to analyze the serological evidence of B. henselae infection in pediatric patients that met the clinical/epidemiological criteria for suspected CSD. We studied 92 patients, who were categorized into four serological groups: 1) IgG (+)/IgM(+), 31,5% (n=29); 2) IgG (-)/IgM(+), 10,9% (n=10); 3) IgG (+)/IgM(-), 9,8% (n=9); 4) IgG (-)/IgM(-), 47,8% (n=44). These findings aim to promote future works for investigating the seroprevalence of Bartonella spp. in Argentina, which will allow us to know the importance of this zoonosis in our population and to evaluate new cut-off points of the technique.

Keywords: Bartonella; Cat scratch disease; Enfermedad por arañazo de gato; Indirect immunofluorescence; Inmunofluorescencia indirecta; Serology; Serología.